i'm a terrible person

Well, maybe not, but I'm certainly a terrible blogger.

I recently got a new job and have been too caught up in the business of moving to remember to blog.

I'm ashamed to admit I've also fallen off the wagon quite severely, so perhaps there's a latent guilt driving me away from Make Do.

Anyway, I plan to throw myself back into it with, if not the same frequency, at least a damned good improvement on the pitiable effort of the last couple of months.

Apologies to my three loyal readers who are probably my Mum and fake accounts she set up for our cats.

I came across something both inspiring and intimidating in my regular internet trawl today.

It's a site called The Uniform Project. Here's a better description than any clumsy attempt I could come up with:

Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade's boudoir.

The Uniform Project is also a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is revolutionizing education in India. At the end of the year, all contributions will go toward Akanksha’s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.

It's pretty amazing to see what you can do with the one basic foundation to build on, and it's the kind of thing I'd love to do, but really doubt I have the fashion savvy to pull off. Sigh.

I have a feeling I'm not alone in this, either, which is why sites like this are particularly helpful to enlighten similar frightened souls to the possibilities of mixing things up a bit. It's something I'd like to see more of in magazines - articles on how to really make the most from a few decent pieces - but it's somewhat counter-intuitive to the magazine advertising ethos to sell as much shit as possible.

(Yes, I know occasionally you do see it, but it's usually crap, showing how a black blazer can go with seven different dresses. Astonishing. Making seven different looks out of the same dress would be much more impressive.)

Anyway, check out the Uniform Project Lookbook and see the same dress, 365 different ways.

Uniform Project Picture Book from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.